346 — Al-Firyābī informed us, saying: Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shayba narrated to us, saying: Zayd ibn al-Hubāb narrated to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Sālih narrated to us, saying: Ayyūb Abū Zayd ⦗767⦘ al-Himsī narrated to me, from ʿUbāda ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿUbāda ibn al-Sāmit, from his father, who entered upon ʿUbāda while he was ill and appeared to be near death. He said, “My father, give me your counsel, and be thorough.” He replied, “Sit down.” Then he said, “You will never taste the sweetness of faith or attain the true reality of faith until you believe in divine decree, both its good and its evil.” I asked, “How can I know its good and its evil?” He replied, “Know that whatever passed you by could never have befallen you, and whatever befell you could never have passed you by. I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘The first thing Allah created was the Pen. He said to it, “Write,” and at that very moment it wrote everything that would come to pass until the Day of Resurrection. If you die holding any belief other than this, you will enter the Fire.’”